Petty corruption, also referred to as as administrative or bureaucratic corruption (contrary grand corruption), often refers to smaller transactions or benefits that are exchanged between, for instance, a business owner and a low-or mid-level public official [1] .
Effects of petty corruption
The use of the term “pettiness” normally refers to the actual amount of a transaction or to the type of a benefit, while as its actual impact on the society is not taken into consideration. Hence, although, the sums or the favors done can be considered relatively small and harmless, these small acts can together have a significant negative impact on the society by increasing the societal costs. Moreover, in the long run, petty corruption acts might harm the lives of the disadvantaged and also prevent the economic growth [2] .
Extensiveness and occurrence
As other forms of corruption, so called small scale corruption is difficult to measure as well. However, petty corruption is perceived as a serious problem within the EU, according to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer, which gives an estimation on the percentage of the people within a country that have sometimes given a bribe to institutions of the public administration. Of all of the respondents, three out of four considered corruption as a serious issue in their own country. The results of the Global Corruption Barometer show that petty corruption is more common in certain areas than others and that there is remarkable differences between the EU Member States. The results relieved that similar "petty" acts were most commonly reported in areas such as medical services, utilities as well as education system [3] .
The measurement of corruption is obviously difficult and, therefore, the experienced petty corruption acts in this survey can only been seen as the minimum occurrence of petty corruption acts within the member states.
Finnish context
The probability of detecting actions of petty corruption is higher than the detection of grand corruption acts. Acts that are perceived as small scale corruption acts are also more easily reported [4] .Studies have shown, however, that people in Finland hardly never experience petty corruption when they interact with the public administration. The well-structured administrative system is based on well defined and perceived rules and laws where all parties not only know what can be expected, but they feel as well that they can take part in the decision making. The system has been evolved throughout the years can be one reason for the low appearance of petty corruption [5] .
Definition
Table of Contents
Effects of petty corruption
The use of the term “pettiness” normally refers to the actual amount of a transaction or to the type of a benefit, while as its actual impact on the society is not taken into consideration. Hence, although, the sums or the favors done can be considered relatively small and harmless, these small acts can together have a significant negative impact on the society by increasing the societal costs. Moreover, in the long run, petty corruption acts might harm the lives of the disadvantaged and also prevent the economic growth [2] .Extensiveness and occurrence
As other forms of corruption, so called small scale corruption is difficult to measure as well. However, petty corruption is perceived as a serious problem within the EU, according to Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer, which gives an estimation on the percentage of the people within a country that have sometimes given a bribe to institutions of the public administration. Of all of the respondents, three out of four considered corruption as a serious issue in their own country. The results of the Global Corruption Barometer show that petty corruption is more common in certain areas than others and that there is remarkable differences between the EU Member States.The results relieved that similar "petty" acts were most commonly reported in areas such as medical services, utilities as well as education system [3] .
The measurement of corruption is obviously difficult and, therefore, the experienced petty corruption acts in this survey can only been seen as the minimum occurrence of petty corruption acts within the member states.
Finnish context
The probability of detecting actions of petty corruption is higher than the detection of grand corruption acts. Acts that are perceived as small scale corruption acts are also more easily reported [4] .Studies have shown, however, that people in Finland hardly never experience petty corruption when they interact with the public administration. The well-structured administrative system is based on well defined and perceived rules and laws where all parties not only know what can be expected, but they feel as well that they can take part in the decision making. The system has been evolved throughout the years can be one reason for the low appearance of petty corruption [5] .
http://formin.finland.fi/public/download.aspx?ID=65819&GUID=%7B1A5D5B8A-97FA-48AC-BC63-7F93AA00E7F8%7D.
effect for the EU. Available: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/document/activities/cont/201212/20121204ATT57271/20121204ATT57271EN.pdf.
Available: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/what-we-do/policies/organized-crime-and-human-trafficking/corruption/anti-corruption-report/docs/2014_acr_finland_chapter_en.pdf.